Laundry Solutions
by Igniting Writing
Summary: An ordinary trip to the laundry room for Izuku and Ochaco takes a turn for the weird when Mei Hatsume shows up with a brand new invention to test... Written for IzuOcha Week 2017, Day Four, on the theme of 'Dorm Life'.


The smell of detergent, washing powder and a lingering odour of sweat met Izuku's nostrils as he walked into the UA laundry room, holding a big wicker basket full of his dirty clothes. The overhead light flickered slightly as he nudged the door open with his elbow and stepped inside.

The room was empty and not exactly welcoming, with the slightly stifling heat combining with the smell unpleasantly, but in an odd way he found the whirring hum of the machines and the floor strewn with discarded clothes somewhat comforting. It was a reminder of the normalities of life – he may have been attending the most modern, sophisticated school in the country, with everything from giant robots to state of the art gym equipment, but it was still a place where hundreds of messy teenagers lived side by side. It definitely wasn't a room that the UA marketing department would be showing on any of their glossy brochures any time soon.

It was a reminder of his responsibilities too. Before he'd left home to live on campus his mother had drilled into him all the things he'd need to know about living alone and even something as simple as using a washing machine had been daunting the first time. But now that he was living independently he didn't want to give her any reason to worry about him more than she already did, so he had made an effort to show her that he was capable of looking after himself like an adult.

Picking a path carefully over the messy floor, he looked for any unused machine and spotted one over in the far corner. Stepping over a small puddle of soapy water he opened it up and was about to unload his basket, but then he heard a warm voice from the doorway.

"Hi Deku. Didn't expect to see you here."

His heartbeat sped up at the familiar, easy-going tone and he turned to see Uraraka in the doorway, beaming her usual sunny smile directly at him and holding her own stack of laundry in her arms. Caught off guard by her presence, he scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Oh, Uraraka, hi. What brings you here?"

Almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth he cringed inwardly – it was the laundry room, it hardly took a genius to work it out – but she overlooked his verbal stumble and just looked over at him cheerfully. "Ah, y'know, just the usual washing. We've done so much training over the last few days I haven't got any clean tracksuits left."

Izuku made a noise of agreement. The last week had been brutal, with seemingly endless combat drills and quirk application exercises one after another. "Yeah, me too. But it looked like all your hard work was paying off – that move you did in the last test was amazing."

Uraraka's naturally rosy cheeks went a shade darker. "I dunno about that. It was just a reaction – like, a spur of the moment thing…"

Izuku stared at her, wide-eyed. "That was spur of the moment? You back flipped almost a mile in the air! That's the highest I've ever seen you go with your quirk. It was so cool – even Mr Aizawa looked impressed!" He thought for a second, then amended, "Well, as impressed as he ever looks at any rate."

She laughed and walked over towards him. "Thanks, but it wasn't like I was planning it. I was only – whoa!"

As she was walking she stepped in the puddle he'd avoided earlier and her foot slipped. With her arms full of laundry she was unable to steady herself and let out a startled yelp. Seeing her fall, Izuku's breath caught in his throat and he instinctively reached out to grab her, managing to catch hold of her lower back. Her weight dragged him down but he was just about able to stay upright, albeit bent over in an undignified posture.

"Uraraka, are you ok? You're not hurt, are you?"

For a second she just hung there in his arms, gazing up at him, before she seemed to register his words. "Huh? Oh, n-no, I'm fine. Totally fine. Uh, thanks for catching me."

Seeing her flustered response, suddenly Izuku realised the situation they were in – he was holding her like a scene from an overdramatic soap opera. His own face heated up. "Ah, that's – umm – it's no problem, really."

In spite of her blush she giggled a little at his tongue-tied reaction. "Sorry for being so clumsy. But wow, you moved so fast! It was like a real hero in action!"

If it had been anyone else saying those words Izuku would have assumed they were teasing him, but Uraraka was the most genuine person he knew and the honest admiration in her eyes made his heart clench. The blush on his face went from 'warm' to 'off the scale' and he nodded, unable to trust his voice. Silently he prayed that no-one else had spotted them.

Unfortunately his prayers went unanswered. "Ooh, am I interrupting something?"

Both of them leapt apart from one another in panic and Izuku whirled his head around. Standing in the doorway, hip cocked and a saucy look in her eyes, was Mei Hatsume.

"It was nothing!" Uraraka exclaimed, waving her hands frantically. "I was just about to fall, but then Deku caught me! That was all!"

"Oh, Midoriya's here?" Hatsume turned to him, seemingly losing interest in Uraraka. "That's perfect timing! I'm testing out the prototype for one of my new babies!"

She dashed forward and Izuku noticed she was carrying an odd looking cube, jet black all over saved for a large red button and a circular hole in the top. It was giving off a sinister sounding hum and he made a snap decision not to put his hand anywhere near the opening. "Erm… what is it?" he asked cautiously. "It looks kinda… dangerous."

Hatsume slapped the cube proudly. "This is my state of the art portable laundromat! The life of a pro hero is a busy one, so in the Support Class we don't just upgrade costumes and work on gear for the field. We also come up with time-saving solutions to daily problems to help heroes manage their time better."

Ochaco, looking somewhat put out by Hatsume's intrusion, leant over. "So what does it do?"

The pink haired girl grinned manically. "It rinses, it washes, it dries, it even folds clothes, all within thirty seconds. It's the ultimate in laundry convenience!"

Izuku had to admit, she was a convincing salesperson. "Is it safe?"

Hatsume shrugged. "This is its maiden voyage, so we won't know until we try. That's why I came down here, looking for some willing volunteers!"

Izuku shared a look with Uraraka, both fighting back smiles. In Hatsume's vocabulary, 'willing volunteer' was another way of saying 'unfortunate passer-by'. But still, he had to admit the idea intrigued him and whilst Hatsume's record with inventions was patchy at best she had pulled through in the past with his costume design. "Ok, I guess I'll give it a try."

Uraraka looked less willing, but after weighing it up nodded her assent too.

"I knew you'd say yes," crowed Hatsume. "Now, let's fire this baby up!" With that she twisted several of the dials on the cube's control panel.

Seeing Uraraka's reluctance, Izuku stepped forward. "Uh, what do I do now?"

Hatsume held the cube out. "Just push all your dirty clothes into the gap in the top. I've designed it to compress the fabrics down, so just feed them in through the hole. You could fit ten loads of washing in here and they'd all fit."

He did as he was told, shoving the pile of his clothes from his laundry basket into the gap whilst keeping his hands well clear. Satisfied that it had all fitted, Hatsume closed the opening and ran a quick check. "Filter is clear, pumps are operational – ok, let's do it!"

She placed the cube on the floor and slammed her hand down on the big red button. The cube buzzed and began vibrating, but then a horrible grinding sound came out of it, with steam pouring out of the top opening.

Ochaco winced, holding her hands over her ears. "Is it supposed to do that?!" she yelled, struggling to be heard over the noise of the machine.

Hatsume frowned. "Ah, I think something must have jammed up the gears. Maybe if I –"

Whatever solution she'd been about to propose suddenly became irrelevant as the top panel of the cube blasted upwards like a rocket and the rest of the cube fell apart, sending suds, water vapour and clothes everywhere. Instantly the room was covered in bubbles and in the resulting chaos Izuku fell flat on his backside and got a mouth full of soapy water.

Coughing and spluttering, he scrambled back to his feet and called out urgently. "Uraraka, Hatsume, are you guys alright?"

Uraraka gave him a shaky thumbs up – she was covered in suds up to her knees, but thankfully had avoided the worst of it – whilst Hatsume just stared forlornly at the broken remnants of her machine. "My poor baby…" she murmured softly.

"Ah, well, at least it sort of worked," Izuku offered lamely. "I mean, it made the soap and water, so that's something at least."

Hatsume smiled, invigorated. "Yes, you're right! With a few tweaks it will definitely work. I just need to sort out the build-up of pressure and my baby will be up and running again in no time!" She cackled like a mad scientist – which, Izuku thought to himself, she kind of was – and picked up the remains of the cube, heading to the door.

"W-Wait!" Izuku called after her in panic. "Aren't you going to help us? With all this?" He gestured helplessly at the soapy mess all over the floor and walls.

She stared back like he was an idiot. "And miss out on valuable workshop time repairing my baby? Of course not! Have fun with the cleaning you two!" Without even a goodbye she turned and walked out, already mumbling plans for her next upgrade and leaving Izuku and Uraraka with identical dropped jaws.

Izuku sighed, shuffling over to the doorway. "Well, guess I'd better find a mop and get started. You go back to the dorms, I can clean it up…"

Uraraka shook her head, cracking a smile. "No way, I'm not leaving you alone to do this. I can help too. I _want_ to help."

"Uraraka…" he whispered, touched. "That's… that's really kind of you. Thank you. I'm sorry –"

She cut him off with a dazzling smile. "No need to apologise. But before we get started…" Her smile turned impish and she picked up a handful of suds in her hands. "Bubble war!"

Before Izuku could question her she threw them at him. He ducked and they landed in his hair, causing Uraraka to fall apart laughing. "Pfft! You look like a poodle!"

He turned to look at her and seeing the playful challenge in her eyes he picked up some suds of his own. "Bubble war, huh?"

Uraraka shrieked in delight as he began pelting her with the frothy bubbles. Within twenty seconds they were both covered from head to toe and out of breath with laughter. Clean up and responsibilities could come later. For now, they were just enjoying the wild fun.


End file.
